Sugarcane, long championed as a foam alternative by brands like Allbirds, is seeing growing adoption as Deckers and eco sneaker seller Lane Eight roll out new footwear styles infused with the eco-friendlier input.
Lane Eight launched its latest high-performance sneaker, the Relay Trainer, Thursday. Designed for runs and cardio centric workouts, the shoe features algae– and sugarcane-based foam, as well as recycled plastic and “other low-carbon footprint materials.” It also sports a “durable,” multi-patterned outsole and an upper with “strategically placed” reinforcements for better stability, Lane Eight co-founder Josh Shorrock said.
The Lane Eight Relay Trainer features sugarcane-based foam.
Courtesy of Lane Eight
Originally established in 2016, Lane Eight relaunched in April last year with two styles. Last month’s Relay Trainer adds a third silhouette to the young brand’s catalogue. The $150 shoe is available in four colorways.
Earlier in June, Deckers Brands’ innovation department—Deckers X Lab—unveiled the X-Scape RDSTR. Described as striking “the perfect balance between functionality and sustainability,” it features a sugarcane EVA midsole with a swallowtail rear that Deckers says offers “a dynamic walking experience.” It also includes “bio-circular” Ecotan leather, a natural gum rubber outsole with 30 percent recycled content, and an ergonomic, removable Contoura insole with a cork topsole.
Also last month, the performance wear brand Legends introduced a limited-edition collaboration with Kane. A recovery footwear brand, Kane has sold sugarcane-based clogs for more than two years. Its collaboration with Legends, priced at $90, has already sold out.
Fitness content creator Matt Choi shows off the Legends x Kane recovery shoe made in part with Brazilian sugarcane.
Courtesy of Legends
The new sugarcane shoe launches arrive as Allbirds, which has been selling footwear made with its proprietary SweetFoam since 2018, prepares to launch a “net zero carbon shoe” in spring of next year. Unveiled in March, the Moonshot, which Allbirds styles M0.0NSHOT, will feature a new foam “informed” by the sugarcane-derived SweatFoam midsole it introduced years ago. To further reduce its footprint, Allbirds will use sugarcane-based polyethylene packaging to reduce weight and space required during transportation, as well as “carbon negative” regenerative wool.
Last week, Allbirds officially revealed the shoe’s design at the Global Fashion Summit in Denmark. Alongside its presentation, the brand published an open-sourced toolkit of how it created what it claims will be a net zero shoe, encouraging competitors to adopt its learnings.